Many products are sold in liquid form such as, but not limited to, paints, primers, roof coatings, mastics, dry wall joint compounds, roofing cement, floor or wood sealants, etc. These products are typically packaged and marketed in receptacles such as, but not limited to, buckets (e.g., one gallon cans, five gallon buckets, etc.). Prior to the use of the product contained in the receptacle, the product should typically be manipulated (e.g., stirred, shaken, etc.). Generally the product is stirred in the receptacle by hand (e.g., hand stirring by a mixing or stirring stick, etc.) or by some type of mechanical or electrical device (e.g., motorized stirrer, etc.). Regardless of the stirring technique used, stirring of the product in the receptacle generally produces a rotational force that is transmitted to the receptacle, which rotational force tends to cause the receptacle to rotate, wobble, lift-up, or otherwise move during the stirring process. The movement of the receptacle during a stirring process can complicate the process of stirring and/or cause spillage from the receptacle during the stirring process, thus can require the stirring user to adopt an awkward position relative to the receptacle to secure the receptacle in position during the stirring process. For example, users typically have to straddle the receptacle between their legs so as to overcome the rotational and/or other movement tendencies of the receptacle during a stirring process. The need for the user to have to maintain the receptacle in position while stirring and/or mixing a product in the receptacle can be difficult, uncomfortable and/or tedious to the user and/or can result in an inefficient stirring or mixing process. Additionally, the complications of receptacle movement during the stirring or mixing process can have other undesired consequences such as, but not limited to, spillage of the product from the receptacle, injury to the user, and/or loss of efficiency and time during the mixing or stirring process.
A variety of devices have been proposed for supporting, stabilizing, gripping and/or holding buckets to prevent their upsetting, rotating or otherwise moving during the stirring or mixing of bucket contents. Some of these devices are cumbersome, heavy and/or awkward to carry, and thus have not been suitably portable. Many of these prior devices have proven to be ill suited to securely grip the exterior surfaces of the type of buckets that contain viscous materials (e.g., adhesives, mastics, coatings and other viscous materials). Commonly these types of materials are sold in plastic buckets, typically of about a five gallon capacity, that have smooth, often slick, exterior surfaces that are difficult to hold in a frictional grip.
Stand-on bucket holders of various types have been proposed. These prior art stand-on bucket holders have a) failed to provide satisfactorily gripping of the smooth, often slick, exterior surfaces of plastic buckets; b) failed to effectively utilize the weight of an operator to prevent bucket movement during the mixing or stirring of the bucket contents; c) been unduly awkward or heavy to carry, to set-up, and/or to use; d) been too complicated or complex to manufacture inexpensively; and/or e) presented other drawbacks that have impeded market acceptance. Some prior art bucket holders have a design that can interfere with the stirring or mixing of the bucket contents by employing one or more rim gripping components that significantly overhang the top opening of the buckets in a manner that can obstruct access to the interior of the bucket.
In view of the current state of the prior art, there is a need for a simple, portable, easy-to-setup and easy-to-use device, that is relatively inexpensive to manufacture, which device can secure a receptacle in place in a convenient and reliable manner.